Tag Archives: Neolithic

CBA North NewsToday our CBA North alphabet of archaeology continues with the letters N and O. Taking the N’s we have a pair of articles describing recent work by CBA National on their projects the Local Heritage Engagement Network (LHEN) and Home Front Legacy (HFL) with which we have been involved. We also have brief notices of other open days – one tomorrow – for the First Linthaugh excavations, near Ford in Northumberland, which we also noted last year, as well as of others at Dilston Castle, which we’ve previously covered.

Best wishes,

CBA North Committee18.08.2017

Local Heritage Engagement NetworkMore on the LHEN project can be found onlinehere.

Open Day 1: First Linthaugh excavationsMembers and Followers will recall we covered Dr Edwards talk at the Kirknewton Archaeology Festival on the Neolithic of the Milfield Basin last year. This year his excavations have continued at the north of the area at an adjacent enclosure. Here is a poster giving you a taster of what has been found so far.

The site is just to the south of Ford Bridge and the junction to Crookham on the B6354 and will be signposted. Parking is permitted in the Fisherman’s Car Park and on the grass verges, close to the track through to the dig on the opposite side of the road. Please park sensibly and take care when crossing the road.

Home Front LegacyIt was back in August 2015 that we worked with CBA National to provide a training day for this national project in Durham, whilst readers may have also heard of the recent listing of the Stockton eavesdropping wireless station and many of the World War One war memorials across our region. Here is some news on what is happening in August for the project.More details on this project can be foundhere.

Open Day 2: Dilston Castle and ChapelMembers and Followers may also be interested to take up this offer to visit Dilston Castle the seat of the ill-fated Jacobite Derwentwater family.

Today CBA North feels a bit like an estate agent. Would Sir or Madam be interested in either of these two ‘offers’ for your archaeological time and interests?

We have two very different houses of different periods, locations and settings from the southeastern parts of our CBA North ‘collection’ (sorry, that should read as ‘region’) with events that you may be interested in.

Best wishes,

CBA North Committee
23.09.2016

Community Archaeology at Hylton Castle
CBA North Members and Followers might be interested in the chance to take part in excavations at Hylton Castle which are being run as part of the Hylton Castle Project which is an initiative, recently launched, by the Friends of Hylton Castle and Sunderland City Council supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

These excavations run from Monday, 26th September, next week to Friday, 7th October, the week after. If you’d like to try your hand at archaeology, and find out more about the history of the site, then why not give it a try?

No previous archaeological experience is necessary, though places may be limited if there is high demand to be involved. If you would like to join in please contact Penny Middleton of Northern Archaeological Associates through her email address which is pm@naa.gb.com or call 0191 375 0943 for further details.

Neolithic Street House – the story continues
Many CBA North Members and Followers will already be familiar with the Street House excavations of 1980s date of a rare long cairn and ‘wossit’ monuments. More recent excavations by Steve Sherlock and the Teesside Archaeological Society have since revealed a rare Anglo-Saxon bed burial and prehistoric settlements.

On Tuesday evening next week, 27th September, the lectures of the Teesside Archaeological Society resume and open with an account of more recent again excavations led by Steve Sherlock. Here the news of a site “of regional or perhaps national significance” will be reported at the lecture.

Further details of the site, the time and location of the lecture venue can be found here.

Our last issue to our CBA North Members was subtitled ‘News from The North’.

Once again we’ve a selection of new news of events happening the now, this week and in the future. Indeed all of today’s features relate to the New Stone Age, so today’s offering is well titled ‘Neolithic News from The North’. Covered today are notice of a national conference based in the region, a chance to visit a henge excavation next week and a place where you can see Neolithic replica pottery being made as well now.

If you would like to publicise your own events to others across CBA North please feel free to send us material on any period, topic or theme (not just of the Neolithic!). We have already been sent notice by the Appleby Archaeology Group of their forthcoming programme of talks up to March 2017 which we will send out later. Can anyone beat that for organisation?

If so, tell us and we can tell others again who might be interested on your behalf. Feel free to send us an email or approach a committee member with details.

CBA North Committee
20.08.2016

Kirknewton Archaeology Festival – a quick reminder
The Kirknewton Archaeology Festival started yesterday. Last night a lecture was given by Dr Ben Edwards on Prehistoric death, burial and ritual on the Ford and Etal Estate covering his excavations at Milfield Threefolds, Broomridge and First Linthaugh. This lecture was well worth hearing on the excavation of an Early Neolithic house – a rare find – and even rarer still of an in situ midden rich in pottery at Milfield. Work at Broomridge, near Ford Moss, was also reported with further discoveries of new rock art panels and motifs likely also Neolithic in date, whilst current work at First Linthaugh was also reported (of which more below).

Further parts of the festival – more walks are planned for this afternoon and tomorrow covering two more of the hillforts close to Kirknewton, whilst there is another talk in St Gregory’s Church – as shown in the thumbnail – tonight. This talk, at 7pm, by Paul Frodsham is titled Aspects of Life and death in the Prehistoric Cheviots – a personal view.

Throughout today and tomorrow Graham Taylor will be demonstrating Neolithic pottery techniques whilst the Till Valley Archaeological Society will be showing their work in the Branxton and Crookham Village Atlas work.

First Linthaugh – henge excavation open day
As those who were at last night’s lecture will know Neolithic research is on-going and happening now!

There is an opportunity to visit the excavations of this henge of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date on this Friday, the 26 August 2016. Like our previous announcement for Derwentcote, this is a general open day. Everyone is is invited to visit between 10am and 3pm to hear of the project.

Further details for the open day can be found on the Ford and Etal Estate’s website. A visit to the site might be usefully combined with Maelmin where one of these (Milfield North) henge has been reconstructed (see here) or the other attractions of the estate for those with other tastes in other periods (see here in this case).

The Neolithic of Northern England – another forthcoming conference
Whilst Kirknewton and First Linthaugh are in the north of our CBA North region and happening now, there is also a forthcoming national conference The Neolithic of Northern England at the end of October.

This national conference is a collaboration between the Royal Archaeological Institute, the Prehistoric Society and the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. This three day conference has a full programme from 21 to 23 October which can be downloaded from The Prehistoric Society website which will cover all parts of the CBA North region, and indeed a few places beyond. One hopes for a publication in due course from what will be a fascinating conference.